Unfortunately, I've heard the same comments with respect to cats that scratch the floor in front of their food. This is usually not a positive response to the food. To test this you might try changing the food being offered. If the cat still does this for other foods, either your cat is a very finicky eater or it's just a behavioral response to the food. I guess the main question is "does he still eat the food even after the scratching behavior?" If they do, then the scratching may be just a behavior related to something like burying the food like a cat in the wild might do to save the food for a later time.

By definition, a natural product cannot contain any ingredients that have been produced by or subject to a chemically synthetic process. This does not include vitamins, which are usually chemically synthesized. Based on this definition, ingredients such as chicken by-products could be used in a natural product because the ingredient was not chemically made. By-products are just the parts of the chicken that are not used for human consumption, thus the name by-product. Unfortunately, many products can't be called natural just because an artificial color is used for cosmetic purposes. This is the case for some of the Purina Cat Chow brand cat food products and is indicated in the ingredient statement on the packaging of the product. When a product does contain a color that is considered artificial, it can't be called natural. Although some pet owners have heard negative things about artificial colors, you can be assured that Purina Cat Chow products all undergo extensive testing to ensure safety and nutritional adequacy. If an artificial color were found to be unsafe it would never be used in any Purina cat food product.